Showing papers in "Quarterly Journal of Speech in 2012"
TL;DR: Streeter as mentioned in this paper argues that the Internet is not a technical fix for the principal social and political dilemmas of democracy, but also that those problems are not going to be solved by releasing and rewarding individual creativity.
Abstract: that. His method of analysis could be called Weberian articulation, in that it uses Hall’s idea of articulation to update Weber’s elective affinities, but also has a stronger, more productive sense of institutions than does Hall. The next step might be to give ‘‘institution’’ Hans Blumenberg’s inflection, which diminishes somewhat the distinction between discourses and organizations to recognize intermediate cultural forms. The point would be to better understand some of the digital locales that we regularly experience today*Wikipedia, Facebook, etc.*as emerging forms of collective organization that might become more durable and capable of serving more functions. In any case, each of the two main foci of Streeter’s explanations merits additional support. First, corporate liberalism seems to be on the way out, and there may be good reason to try to revive it as corporate liberalism 2.0: focusing on the use of digital media to integrate industries and technologies on behalf of innovation that could serve a public interest. Second, cultural influence remains an underappreciated resource. The high degree of social trust and cooperative, unremunerated investment in the development of the Internet has been completely at variance with most of the discourses about the state of American civil society, not to mention the behavior of supposedly selfish utility maximizers. Likewise, the importance of digital technologies for understanding social relations could be developed further. As has been said, virtual media don’t make the real virtual; instead, they make the virtual visible. Actual social relations and sensibilities now can be seen to an extent not possible in other media. Streeter’s account of the Internet provides a good context for looking deeper into the medium in order to ask just how collaboration and influence actually work. To do that, one might want to encourage more open source theorizing about digital culture: say, involving users through interactive writing, networked discussions, and so forth. Whatever the emphasis, Streeter provides a fine model for how to think carefully about both the Internet and digital democracy. His approach is going to be a tough sell, however, as it is a case for a middle way. He is quite clear not only that ‘‘the internet is not a technical fix for the principal social and political dilemmas of democracy’’ (184), but also that those problems are not going to be solved by releasing and rewarding individual creativity. Neither technocrats nor entrepreneurs will do. What is needed, instead, are those things the history of the Internet has shown to be successful platforms for innovation: nonprofit institutional structures and ‘‘extracapitalist social relations’’ that can ‘‘emerge neither from business nor from big government but from mixed spaces in between the two’’ (186). Instead of turning to the Internet to solve known problems, we might use the open, collaborative culture that has developed there as a place to explore better versions of democratic association.
103 citations
TL;DR: Soyini Madison, M.D. as mentioned in this paper, Acts of Activism: Human Rights as Radical Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), xi + 322 pp.
Abstract: D. Soyini Madison, Acts of Activism: Human Rights as Radical Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), xi + 322 pp. $99.00 (cloth), $79.00 (e-book). Several years ago, I had the op...
48 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that this routine characterization of Obama's election functions as a site for the production of selective amnesia, a form of remembrance that routinely negates and silences those who would contest hegemonic narratives of national progress and unity.
Abstract: The mainstream press frequently characterized the election of President Barack Obama the first African American US President as the realization of Martin Luther King's dream, thus crafting a postracial narrative of national transcendence. I argue that this routine characterization of Obama's election functions as a site for the production of selective amnesia, a form of remembrance that routinely negates and silences those who would contest hegemonic narratives of national progress and unity.
42 citations
TL;DR: This article examined rhetorical practices that sustain or undermine perceived authentic outdoor recreation experiences, such as staying on or going off a trail, running, and wearing inadequate footwear, and found that these practices communicate member status in an outdoor recreation subculture and construct expectations for authentic experiences.
Abstract: When people recreate outdoors, they value the quality of the experience. This study examines rhetorical practices that sustain or undermine perceived authentic outdoor recreation experiences. I conducted a rhetorical analysis of my fieldnotes gathered through participant observation and interview transcripts of online and in-person interviews. I suggest that practices of walking in outdoor recreation—such as staying on or going off a trail, running, and wearing inadequate footwear—communicate member status in an outdoor recreation subculture and construct expectations for authentic experiences. My analysis demonstrates how fluid, embodied, repetitive actions can produce or violate abstract constructs such as authentic experiences.
41 citations
25 citations
TL;DR: In 2009, Andre Andrade was convicted for the murder of Angie Zapata, an 18-year-old Latina transgender woman living in rural Colorado as discussed by the authors, whose friends, family, and community countered the assertion of transphobia in the courtroom and larger public discussion by circulating self-portraits of the victim on t-shirts at community vigils.
Abstract: In 2009, Andre Andrade was convicted for the murder of Angie Zapata, an 18-year-old Latina transgender woman living in rural Colorado. This essay traces the way Angie's friends, family, and community countered the assertion of transphobia in the courtroom and larger public discussion by circulating self-portraits of Angie on t-shirts at community vigils. Displaying Angie's portrait not only resists the mobilization of transphobic disgust, but also enacts a way of seeing trans people as citizens within the civil contract of photography. The mourners' resistance enacts a politics of witnessing that contests the bureaucratization of gender and the aesthetic norms of legal culture. These rhetorical performances illustrate the emotional politics of visuality, and how citizenship is a category of of embodied sociality, public emotionality, and performative enactment.
24 citations
TL;DR: The 25th anniversary of the founding of ACT UP provides a moment to reflect on the group's unquestionably profound effects on the management of HIV/AIDS, the queer community, the history of social...
Abstract: The 25th anniversary of the founding of ACT UP provides a moment to reflect on the group's unquestionably profound effects on the management of HIV/AIDS, the queer community, the history of social ...
24 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the ways in which the Young Lords' craft "the people's repertory of convictions" from diverse rhetorical resources in their verbal, visual, and embodied discourse surrounding the church offensive.
Abstract: This essay is an attempt to come to terms with the Young Lords’ popular liberation rhetoric in the church offensive. Building from Michael Calvin McGee's observation that “‘the people’ are more process than phenomenon,” I explore the ways in which the Young Lords’ craft “the people's repertory of convictions” from diverse rhetorical resources in their verbal, visual, and embodied discourse surrounding the church offensive. In highlighting such a performative repertoire for “the people,” I extend research related to ideographs by articulating a link between ideographs and what Charles Taylor and others call the “social imaginary,” which is “not a set of ideas; rather it is what enables, through making sense of, the practices of society.” In making this connection between ideographs and social imaginaries, I read the Young Lords’ rhetoric of “the people” as a radical, decolonial challenge to the modern social imaginary. Specifically, I argue that the Young Lords’ rearticulation of “the people” as a pluriver...
21 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that the Jewish Museum Berlin contains two heterotopias, one within the other, and the doubling of heterotopian space uses dialectical-rhetorical transcendence to build identification with the museum's message for an increasingly international audience.
Abstract: This essay considers the rhetoric of space in a rapidly transforming culture. Using Michel Foucault's concept of “heterotopias” to understand the rhetorical power of a building's disposition, it is argued that the Jewish Museum Berlin contains two heterotopias, one within the other. The first is Daniel Libeskind's original building design in relation to the surrounding city, but the second is the placement of an art installation, Menashe Kadishman's Shalechet, in a central location within the museum. The doubling of heterotopian space uses dialectical–rhetorical transcendence to build identification with the museum's message for an increasingly international audience.
20 citations
TL;DR: The logic of political economy depends on a domestic metaphor, using the oikos or household as a model for the polis as discussed by the authors, and this metaphor has imagined citizens as the children of a paternal...
Abstract: The logic of political economy depends on a domestic metaphor, using the oikos or household as a model for the polis. Historically, this metaphor has imagined citizens as the children of a paternal...
18 citations
TL;DR: The visual metaphors that permeate FDR's rhetoric are especially intriguing because of the way it interacted with the prevailing political culture in order to underwrite radical shifts in political power by helping FDR persuade the mass public to accept a synoptic view of nationalism and governmental responsibility as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Throughout his administration, FDR engaged in a complex set of arguments that worked together to defend democracy in general as a viable form of government; American democracy as the highest expression of democratic government; the primacy of the federal government as the most efficient and effective locus of democratic power; and the executive office as the culmination of the form, efficiency, and locus of that power. My specific concern here is with one form those arguments took, the visual metaphors that permeate FDR's rhetoric. Visuality in FDR's rhetoric is especially intriguing because of the way it interacted with the prevailing political culture in order to underwrite radical shifts in political power by helping FDR persuade the mass public to accept a synoptic view of nationalism and governmental responsibility. These changes have implications for presidents, presidential candidates, and for the citizens whose support they seek.
TL;DR: Bonn, A. as discussed by the authors, Mass Deception: Moral Panic and the US War on Iraq (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2010), xiv + 190 pp.
Abstract: Scott A. Bonn, Mass Deception: Moral Panic and the US War on Iraq (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2010), xiv + 190 pp. $24.95 (paper), $14.97 (e-book). At the heart of Scott Bonn's pr...
TL;DR: Bourne's famous "War is the Health of the State" maxim has been transformed into a talking point in the American social conscience as discussed by the authors, and it can be heard echoing from every political corner of the blogosphere as progressives and libertarians alike find cause to question the motives of governmental power.
Abstract: We are still coming to terms with the legacy of Randolph Bourne. Although he died at the age of 32 just as the United States was cheerfully entering the First World War under the banner of “democracy,” the words he penned in an unfinished essay still resonate in the American social conscience: “War is the Health of the State.” This maxim, once thought the exclusive property of leftist radicals, now can be heard echoing from every political corner of the blogosphere as progressives and libertarians alike find cause to question the motives of governmental power. Yet despite his reappearance as a symbol, Bourne in many ways remains as forgotten as ever—perhaps even more so as his once provocative claim has been transformed into a talking point. This essay endeavors to recapture the voice of Bourne in all its complexity, seeking to place him at the forefront of the contemporary American intellectual tradition as one of its most piercing critics, most visionary poets, and most eloquent rhetors. Specifically, w...
TL;DR: In 2008, I attended an archive and storytelling exhibition celebrating ACT UP Philadelphia's 20th anniversary as mentioned in this paper, which was the last remaining ACT UP chapter in the United States, and was the first one to host a storytelling exhibition.
Abstract: In 2008, I attended an archive and storytelling exhibition celebrating ACT UP Philadelphia's 20th anniversary. At the time, Philadelphia's chapter was among the last remaining in the national ACT U...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the debates over objectivism and relativism mirror the skirmishes of the culture wars that begin at about the same time, and that this is an important book that should be on the bookshelf of anyone who thinks and writes about rhetorical theory and criticism.
Abstract: everyone from Dale Carnegie to Tony Robbins) needs to be seen in the context of the US secularization of Protestant modes of self-improvement in the nineteenth century and beyond, just as the debates over objectivism and relativism mirror the skirmishes of the culture wars that begin at about the same time. Nonetheless, this is an important book, well researched and engagingly written, that should be on the bookshelf of anyone who thinks and writes about rhetorical theory and criticism.
TL;DR: These are the crucial cultural chronicles that remain to be written as mentioned in this paper. And there is still time, for those of us fortunate to have it, to read, more closely and carefully, the chronicles we are in.
Abstract: These are the crucial cultural chronicles that remain to be written. And there is still time, for those of us fortunate to have it, to read, more closely and carefully, the chronicles we are in. —P...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's choice to foreground arguments from due process rather than equal protection in the majority opinion in Lawrence v. Texas, revealing a futuristic, always-open-to-change vision in Kennedy's rhetorical framing of constitutional law that is significantly less damaging to possibilities for "queer world making" in the United States than other contemporary US judicial arguments of and about sexuality.
Abstract: This essay discusses Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's choice to foreground arguments from due process rather than equal protection in the majority opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. Kennedy's choice can realize constitutional legal doctrine that is more consistent with radical queer politics than arguments from equal protection. Unlike some recent critiques of Kennedy's opinion, a queer rhetorical analysis of Lawrence reveals a futuristic, always-open-to-change vision in Kennedy's rhetorical framing of constitutional law that is significantly less damaging to possibilities for “queer world making” in the United States than other contemporary US judicial arguments of and about sexuality.
TL;DR: The authors investigates a programmatic effort to respond to the overly critical orientation of higher education, and explicates a formal parallel between the criticism launched, on one hand, by the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Graduate School Internship at the University of Texas at Austin against public research universities, specifically the elimination or reduction of structural and instruc...
Abstract: Debates regarding higher education's relevance and responsiveness to societal exigencies have in the past three decades resulted in the development of programs with leitmotifs such as “service learning,” “problem-based learning,” and “civic engagement” (e.g., “Scholarship on Teaching and Learning,” McNair Scholars, etc.). A recurring theme in these enterprises has been the emphasis on honing students’ capacity for criticism. And while this faculty is valuable, it may be ultimately insufficient for students’ active and productive problem-solving and concrete engagement. Heuristically employing Giambattista Vico's rhetorical pedagogy, this essay investigates a programmatic effort to respond to this overly critical orientation. I explicate a formal parallel between the criticism launched, on one hand, by the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Graduate School Internship at the University of Texas at Austin against public research universities, specifically the elimination or reduction of structural and instruc...
TL;DR: A comment made to me recently indicated that ACT UP's memory and legacy are haunted by the perception that it was r... as discussed by the authors pointed out that ACTUP's history and legacy were haunted by a perception that the group was a terrorist group.
Abstract: My reflections on this 25th anniversary of ACT UP's founding were spurred by a comment made to me recently that indicated that ACT UP's memory and legacy are haunted by the perception that it was r...
TL;DR: Finnegan and Bauer as discussed by the authors, The Art of the Public Grovel: Sexual Sin & Public Confession in America (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), x + 337 pp.
Abstract: Cara A. Finnegan, Editor Review Essay Susan Wise Bauer, The Art of the Public Grovel: Sexual Sin & Public Confession in America (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), x + 337 pp. $26.95 (cl...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how James's speech could be both unconventional and fitting, arguing that his Shaw memorial oration demonstrates a style of commemorative discourse that is conflictual, even disruptive, yet capable of serving the ends of the epideictic tradition.
Abstract: On May 31, 1897, William James, one of America's most influential philosophers and psychologists, delivered the first civic oration of his career. The principal orator at the dedication of the Robert Gould Shaw memorial in Boston, James did what commemorative speakers are not supposed to do. He chose to be confrontational and divisive in a situation that called for exactly the opposite. Nevertheless, upon conclusion of his speech the audience erupted in applause, hailing his remarks as both unconventional and fitting. In this essay, I explore how James's speech could be both unconventional and fitting. I argue that his Shaw memorial oration demonstrates a style of commemorative discourse that is conflictual, even disruptive, yet capable of serving the ends of the epideictic tradition. As I show, James used his intellectual ethos as the nation's leading psychologist to construct a kind of communal therapy session, at the heart of which was the notion of “lonely courage.” With this strangely individualistic...
TL;DR: Just outside the front doors of the Immigration and Naturalization Service Varick Street Detention Center in Manhattan, a diverse group of 25-30 activists marched in a circle as mentioned in this paper, carrying homemade signs.
Abstract: Just outside the front doors of the Immigration and Naturalization Service Varick Street Detention Center in Manhattan, a diverse group of 25–30 activists marches in a circle. Their homemade signs ...
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TL;DR: Alex, I'm glad that you are documenting the good work of ACT UP as mentioned in this paper. But I cannot join ACT UP because I was undocumented and could not afford to get arrested and potentially deported.
Abstract: Alex, I'm glad that you are documenting the good work of ACT UP. I couldn't join ACT UP because I was undocumented and could not afford to get arrested and potentially deported. Good luck with your...
TL;DR: Gehrke as discussed by the authors, The Ethics and Politics of Speech (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2010), 205 pp. $35.00 (paper).
Abstract: Pat J. Gehrke, The Ethics and Politics of Speech (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2010), 205 pp. $35.00 (paper). Any fully historicized account of contemporary rhetoric is going to ...
TL;DR: The 25th anniversary of ACT UP marked the beginning of a new wave of feeling of being fucked, without protection, by government, the medico-pharmaceutical complex, and "the" church.
Abstract: [F]eeling is a byproduct of a precise arrangement of circumstances. Revisiting ACT UP restarts the ‘‘panic of loss’’ characterizing my youth. With few exceptions, death remained at a physical remove from me, but it took theorists, artists, and performers whose work made me feel less alone, registering in my psyche and praxis as the equivalent of ash. I felt that panic intensely one afternoon, discovering David Wojnarowicz’s obituary in Art in America. An impoverished graduate student taking the bit of alienation, I sank to Waldenbooks’ floor, catching my breath, uncertain how to proceed. Could I afford the magazine? Earlier, I’d spent too long scraping the residue out of an empty jar of peanut butter to smear on a stale rice cake. In the end, I charged it, praying for approval. I felt panic rekindle as censorship of Wojnarowicz resurged, 19 years after his death. The Smithsonian recently withdrew his video ‘‘A Fire in My Belly’’ from the show Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, caving to ‘‘protests from a right-wing Catholic group and members of Congress,’’ disappearing him again. The 25th anniversary of ACT UP means our fragile planet occupies the same orbital position it did when an enunciation formalized a feeling of being fucked, without protection, by government, the medico-pharmaceutical complex, and ‘‘the’’ church. But if that fuckery surprised ACT UP’s founders or anyone else, then we hadn’t paid attention. We failed to consider Raymond Williams’s structure of feeling,
TL;DR: Streeter as mentioned in this paper, The Net Effect: Romanticism, Capitalism, and the Internet (New York: New York University Press, 2010), ix + 219 pp. $65.00 (cloth), $22.00(paper).
Abstract: Thomas Streeter, The Net Effect: Romanticism, Capitalism, and the Internet (New York: New York University Press, 2010), ix + 219 pp. $65.00 (cloth), $22.00 (paper). Few people today would remember,...
TL;DR: Struever's Rhetoric, Modality, Modernity i.e., this article, is a collection of essays written by Struever and published by the University of Chicago Press.
Abstract: Nancy S. Struever, Rhetoric, Modality, Modernity (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), x + 158 pp. $35.00 (cloth), $7.00–$30.00 (e-book). Nancy S. Struever's Rhetoric, Modality, Modernity i...
TL;DR: The francophone world has always been at the center of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as mentioned in this paper, from the mythical (French Canadian) “patient zero,” Gaetan Dugas,1 to Rock Hudson's flight to Paris for medical treatme...
Abstract: The francophone world has always been at the center of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. From the mythical (French Canadian) “patient zero,” Gaetan Dugas,1 to Rock Hudson's flight to Paris for medical treatme...
TL;DR: Finnegen and Brier as mentioned in this paper discuss the US political response to the AIDS crisis and the role of the AIDS epidemic in the development of AIDS-related ideas in the United States.
Abstract: Cara A. Finnegen, Editor Jennifer Brier, Infectious Ideas: US Political Responses to the AIDS Crisis (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009), xv+289 pp. $36.95 (cloth), $22.95 (pape...